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edited by

Paul A. Saba tier


University of Calif ornia, Davis

Theoretical Lenses on Public Policy

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Theories of the policy process I edited by Paul A. Saba tier.
p. em.- (Theoretical lenses on public policy)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-9985-8 (be.)- ISBN 0-8133-9986-6 (pbk.)
I. Policy sciences. 2. Political planning. l. Saba tier, Paul A.
11. Series.
H97.T46 1999
321'.6-dc21

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I 0 I I 12 13 14 15 16 I 7 18 19 20

2
The Stages Approach to
the Policy Process
what Has It Done? Where Is .It Going?
!

PETER DELEON

''I'm sorry Peter, but it seems that [policy research] has moved beyond the [policy
process] stages heuristic."
-Participant at 1996 APSA meetings

More than forty-five years ago, Harold D. Lasswell articulated the first formal usage of the concept policy sciences. Although informal policy advice had been offered by advisers to rulers for centuries, Lasswell was the first to define .runy coherent manner what com12osed this "new" ap_l2LQ_adl...m..goyernmerit and its
characteristics (Lasswell, 1951; also Lasswell and Kaplan, 1950). Since then, the
pOlicy sciences-largely under the derivative rubrics of policy analysis and later
public management-have made tremendous strides in terms of widespread acceptance, surely in the United States and increasingly in other nations. B_nt.as._the
policy sciences orientation approache~. h;t.lf.i! ent:ury, pne qn legi.timateJy ~QD.:
derw11atitb;sl?r-;;~~~edin t~-~1~ ~g<!~S~~l[_s original vision, its everyday operation, and, most important, its capacity for future research, in short, its overall
su~~ pe~simistic observers would agree with Donald Schon and Martin

The original version of this chapter was presented as part of the twentieth anniversary
of the Centro de lnvestigacion y Docencia Economicas, in Mexico City, 3 June 1996. I am
grateful for the insightful conunents provided by Profs. Omas Guerrero (UNAM) and Jose
Luis Mendez (Colegio de Mexico). Professor Paul A. Saba tier (University of California at
Davis), as editor of this volume, forced an especially close attention to these arguments.
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Peter deLeon

Rein (1994, p. xvi), who-although themselves sympathetic to the policy sciences-wrote that "the policy analytic movement begun by Harold Lasswell in
the early 1950s has largely failed."
In this essay, I deal with one particular aspect of Lasswell's vision of the policy
sciences. Lasswell operationalized-although rather abstractly-many of his
ideas about improving the quality of governance by improving the quality of the
information being rendered to government. He focused particular attention on
the "p~~_ss," or the functional stages or PJ!-..?.lli_that a_given _ggy_~nt
policy (or program) would go thro~_yring its "12~Uife." As we shall see,
many observers have argued against the Lasswellian approach and have strongly
suggested the shortcomings of the policy process/stages approach. In this context, we can examine Lasswell's (and others') policy framework to see if it has become as antiquated (some would claim dysfunctional) as its critics have charged.
Alternatively, we can see if it still offers some utility as the art and craft of policy
research continue to evolve as a tool to improve the quality of the information
offered government.

!;:
KNOWLEDGE IN THE POLICY PROCESS
Lasswell gave special emphasis to what he termed "knowledge of the policy
process" and "knowledge in the policy process," the former being more substantive (e.g., How much C0 2 can be released into the atmosphere without evoking a
disastrous global warming condition?) and the latter being more procedural
(How does a democratic polity publicly intervene in reducing its C0 emis2
sions?). He framed a "conceptual map [that] must provide a guide to obtaining a
generalistic image of the major phases .of any collective act" (Lasswell, 1971, p.
28) and nominated seven "stage_s" of what he was later to call "the decision
process" (Lasswell, 1956 ):

Intelligence
Promotion
Prescription
Invocation
Application
Termination
Appraisal

This listing reflects the origin of what has arguably been the most widely accepted concept of the policy sciences, that is, the policy process, th~...r.rocedure by
which a_giv~n_poljcy _is. Rr9P.9Ji~.9!~:'C_<ll1?i_ned, car~ed 9..llhMJ...Q p.erh.a.p.s.leuninat~d
(see Lasswell, 1956). Later, one of Lasswell's students at Yale University, Garry D.
Brewer ( 197 4 ), prop~derivative list (almost certainly with Lasswell's specific

The Stages Approach to the Policy Process

21

approval) that (with other very similar alternatives from other authors) has
shaped much of the research agenda undertaken by policy scientists since the
mid-1970s, in both substantive and practical terms:'
Initiation
Estimation
Selection
Implementation
Evaluation
Termination
These stages are not simply divined from the heady atmosphere of the academj:'"l30tl1individually and in combination, they offer a way to think about public policy in concept an_d, just as important, in operation. Although they certainly
can merge with one another, each does have a distinctive characteristic and mannerism and process that give the individual stage a life and presence of its own.
Without denying that the stages can (and often should) share information and
procedures, few observers would confuse the distinguishing set of activities that
defines program estimation with those dealing with (say) policy termination.
Angela Browne and_Aaron Wil~- (1984, p. 205) made the point with great
cogency as they distinguished between..!lle JilUtU<llly supportive duality_ofjmpJ~
mentation and evaluation:
-~-- ~-~---

The conceptual distinction between evaluation and implementation is important to


maintain, however much the two overlap in practice, because they protect against
the absorption of analysis into action to the detriment of both.
The idea of a delineated, sequential policy process fram~work <!J2.p_q_ITn!!Y-Was
much admired, for, as stated above, numerous authors have availed themselves of
the1rameworl<, either explicitly or implicitly. Charles Jones's An Introduction to the
Study of Public Policy ( 1970/1977I 1984) and James Anderson's Public Policy Making
(1975/1979) were among the first "policy process" volumes; Anderson references
both Lasswell and Jones in his description of the policy stages (although omitting
termination). In 1983, Brewer and deLeon published their volume, which completely laid out the stages of and rationales for the policy process. All three volumes
(and other analogous models, such as Judith May and Aaron Wildavsky, 1978, and
Dennis Palumbo, 1988) focused the reader's attentions on "knowledge of,' that is,
the workings of the policy process as a process-oriented event.
Just as important, the~!:~l~IT1_e~ _an<:J theica_dyoc.aq; (or at least their utilization) of the policy prOZess model directed ,an ~ntire g~11fratioD . of r.~E.l~ShJ?Y
noted policy scholars, as they studied stages as stages (e.g., policy initiation)
rather than as specific issue areas (e.g., energy resources). 2 These works include
such unquestionable policy classics as:'

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Peter deLeon

In~: Nelson Polsby's Political Innovation in America (1984), John


and Public Policy (1984/1996), and
Barbara Nelson's Making an Issue of Child Abuse ( 1984 ).
Estimation: Alice Rivlin's Systematic Thinking for Social Action (1971),
Edward Quade's Analysis for Public Decisions ( 1983 ), and David Weimer
and Aidan Vining's Policy Analysis ( 1989).
Implementation: Jeffrey Pressman and Aaro~~ Implementation ... (1973), Eugene Bardachyhe Implementation Game (1977),
and Daniel Mazmanian and Paul~b~i~'s Implementation and Public
Policy (1983).

~~Agendas, Alternatives,

Evaluation: Edward Suchman's Evaluation Research (1967) and Richard


Titmuss's The Gift Relationship (1971).
Termination: Herbert Kaufman's Are Government Organizations Immortal? (1976) and Fred Ilde's Every War Must End (1971/1991).
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In his Advice and Consent ( 1988), ~!:_eon co!!ly~r~d th~J.S:l~~V.~ str.e.ngti)s and
~eaknesses of the_jegmentation of the policy stages/process fram,_t~.~-ork as it affects the policy sciences research agenda. On the one hand, these WQr.ks..lm:rn.ght
a new richness to the policy sciences, as Polsby and other policy scholars emphasized the intense complexity that theorists in political science and economics, in
search of more rigorous, hypotheses-generating-models, might have overlooked.
For instance, Pressman and Wildavsky's detailing of the high drama performed
by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and its incredibly cumbersome ballet with the city of Oakland, partially initiated to ward off potential
urban violence (that surely was not part of the EDA's initial missi<?n), demonstrated just how involved and actually convoluted policy implementation could
be. Similarly, Titmuss's normatively oriented evaluation of comparative blood
transfusion policies in The Gift Relationship forcefully argues against a reliance
on standard benefit-cost analyses that were the growing standard of program
evaluation.
Moreover, an emphasis on the policy_pr.o_ces.s_moxed_r:esearch away_fr.om__a
strict adherence to the study of public_~9ministration aE<:J_ jn~titutions, .~_hi_ch
was ~!!.illg iTLROl_it~c~l science, and of quasi-markets, which was the
predilection of economics. Thus, it helped to rationalize a new problemoriented perspective markedly different from its disciplinarypiedecess;~he
c-umulativ~ analyses of the various stages clearly demonstrated Lasswell's insistence on a multidisciplinary approach to the policy sciences, as well as the interactive effects among the different stages. Finally, the policl.2!.95ess frame.w.ork
readily permittt:_c!_ the explicit i12clu~ion of s_cial n~n_<!_p.!:r~lJ.~l_yglu.fS, a
component too often neglected or ignored in contemporary political and
economic examinations.
~t the same time, these analyses of specific stages in the policy process
model had a clear downside in that they oriented scholars toward lookingJI.!j~

The Stages Approach to the Policy Process

23

one sll!.ge. at a time (deLeon, 1988 ), thereby neglecting the entire -eroce_ss. Ulti-
mately, ma_l.!Y..Policy researc_!lers (and policymakers') s:_a..!!!f_to view the 2fOCess as
a sharply differentiated set of activities: First, you define the problem; then, a
compfeTelyaiTferent ~~f ]faCto~s @plements the chosen p~icy_Eti_o~; _a third
stage defi~es the- e\raluation; and so on. Likewise, ther.J:J2rtra;:ed a disjoipted,
episodic process rather than a more ongoing, continuous one, as well as a policy
phenomenon that seemingly to~k -pjace- i~ the relatively short term, one more
suitable to the policymaker's rapidly changing schedule than the life span of a
given policy. Finally, to many, the policy process/stages image implied a certain
linearity-for example, first initiation, then estimation .... then (possibly) termination-as opposed to a series offeedback actions or recursive loops (e.g., estimation can lead back to initiation rather than the next step, selection, and implementation and evaluation insistently feed back and forth on each other) that
characterize the operations and politics of the policy process.
Nevertheless, most (even subsequent critics) agree that the framework of the
policy process and its various stages held center stage for at least the better part of
the 1970s and 1980s. It was, for many, the "conventional wisdom" (Robert
Nakaruma, 1987, referred to it as "the textbook policy process") that forced itself
upon an emerging discipline, largely in disregard of Albert Hirschman's (1970)
prescient warning that paradigms, unless closely considered, can become a hindrance to understanding. And arguably, that is exactly what happened as policy
scholars began to inform their own interpretations of the policy process framework as if it were the target rather than the condition it sought to describe. Although certainly none would argue against a new statement of perspectives, one
can openly question its basic assumptions. Let us therefore examine the thrust of
these criticisms.

IN SEARCH OF A THEORY . ..

It was not until the late 1980s that Robert Nakamura (1987) began to question
the conventional wisdom, asking if its "widespread use" suggested that the stages
were anywhere near as precisely defined as their proponents proposed; if not, he
claimed, the process/stages image could not be used as a "paradigm." Later, Paul
Sabatier (see Sabatier, 1988, 1991), often in cooperation with Hank JenkinsSmith (1993), propo~ed_!!::at!he policy process "he~,!rl_gi<;:" (thei_ue_rnlH~_s..)~ri:
ous limitatioll~~)~_0sf.or research_and te'lching:' (Jenkins-Smith and Sabatier,
1993, p. 3 ), and, more specifically, tha__!__!:h~_p_olicy_proces~n-~gl~<::!~~"!he__!..ole of
ideas-particularly ideas involving the relatively technical aspects of poljc;y .9~
bates-in policy evolutic)n'' (Sabatier, 1993, p. 15). - --- ---
satJatlerotfereClsix vei-T <::oqcret_e complaints abou.uhe pQii~y proc~?s a_?_a_l!!lifying concept withi~ the poljcy sci_ences (Jenkins-Smith and Sabatier, 1993, pp.
3-4; em pha.ses inoriginal):

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Peter deLeon
l.

"The stages model is not really a causal model at all." That is, it did not
lend itself to prediction, or even to indicating how one stage led to another.

2.

"The stages model does not provide a clear basis for empirical hypothesis
testing." Hence it is not amenable to confirmation, amendment, or fabrication.

3.

"The stages heuristic suffers from descriptive inaccuracy in posing a series of stages .... "

4.
5.

"The stages metaphor suffers from a built-in legalistic, top-down focus."


"The stages metaphor inappropriately emphasizes'the policy cycle as the
temporal unit of analysis." In other words, it neglects the concept of a
system of intergovernmental relations.
"The stages metaphor fails to provide a good vehicle for integrating the
roles of policy analysis and policy-oriented learning throughout the pub-

6.

lic policy process."


Sabatier's criticisms were well couched and thoughtful, even though notalways to the point of those who used the policy process/stages metaphor.' The primary shortcoming, according to Ronald Brunner (1991 ), is that Saba-tier's criticisms reflected a worrisomely narrow use of empirical (e.g., a use conducive to
specific hypothesis creation and prediction) theory; it overlooks the presence of
what Lasswell called a central theory, which helps integrate (N.B.: not necessarily
predict) policy events. As Brunner (1991, p. 70) posited, "An adequate body of
_ central theory-composed of concepts as well as normative and empirical
propositions-has been available for some time." Later, Brunner (1991, pp.
80-81) was even more explicit: "The purpose of the policy sciences as 'science' is
to realize more of the potential for free choice through the shari~ of insight [i.e.,
central theory). The purpose_is n_q_t_pre~on" (emphasis in original).
This narrowness is also present in more functional uses (to which Lasswell
gave equal footing) of the policy process paradigm. For example, Brewer and
deLeon (and, by implication, Lasswell) never proposed that the policy process
comprised a theoretic model as ascribed by Sabatier, for they certainly realized
that it was not suitable to formal hypothesis testing or prediction with much precision. Rather, they viewed the policy process as a device (a heuristic, as it were)
to help dissaggregate an otherwise seamless web of public policy transactions, as
was too regularly depicted in political science. They proposed that each segment
and transition were distinguished by differentiated actions and purposes. For instance, policy estimation was primarily an analytic activity pursued by (usually)
staff analysts within an agency; on the other hand, implementation was performed by an entirely different set of actors, generally acting outside the agency,
having to interact with a defined set of external clients, and occasionally having
to alter literally the policy purposes as a matter of local necessity (Groggin et al.,
1990).

I....._

The Stages Approach to the Policy Process

25

Still, the overall policy process metaphor implied a system. In Brewer and
deL~on's ( 1983) simile, the policy process "model" was likened to that of a medical doctor; a physician might well examine a patient's blood circulation or hormonal balance but would never lose track of the fact that the body's circulation
or biochemistry is contained within and vital to a system (i.e., the body). Nor did
Brewer and deLeon ever claim that the stages are unidirectional or lacked feedback capabilities; indeed, quite the opposite. To claim that the policy process
heuristic lacks empirical theoretic constructs and characteristics and is therefore
empty, or even "dysfunctional," is somewhat akin to claiming that Tom Cruise's
reputed Jack of serious acting ability disqualifies him as a matinee idol and box
office cash cow.
However, these reservations or rejoinders are not meant to diminish the importance of Saba tier and Jenkins-Smith's research agenda. Indeed, at its base, it is
nowhere near as dismissive of the policy process/stages heuristic as the authors
would have us believe. Rather, one could justifiably argue that in the articulation
of their advocacy coalition framework (Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith, 1991), they
were talking implicitlY. about a.PES~ived !~C-l!ll.?J!l_t)!e_p_o}icy proce~s,_!n .this case,
policylnitiation (or what others, such as David Dery, 1984, have terrr~ed "probJe!i'ldefi-;JtTo";;"). Their very title-Policy Change and Learning-speaks directly
to their goals,~, to explain how new (or seriQJ!.Sl~reyised) wograms are
brought into being, sometimes over at least a decade and despite any number of
opposition parties, which are not so much defeated as coopted or persuaded or
cajoled into what Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith called an "advocacy coalition."
Moreover, these authors' particular contributions to polic;:y resear~b_=<!S-O.ppo.sed
~say, Kingdon's on agenda etting-are si~cant, as they focus explicitly on
differences between dynamic and static policy elements. In this way, Sabatier and
Jenkins-Smith provide greater awareness between (what they call) secondary versus core issues and try to incorporate changes in such "values" as they permit
norms to become a formal part of the policy considerations.
We can identify analogous contributions on the part ~nk Bau_!Tigartner
~-~.. BrY-a.lJ...J.s>MS (1993 ), as they described events in terms of activities that they
called regular "triggering events," resulting in "punctuated equilibria," leading
naturally to the establishment of a new political status quo. They, too, fall easily
into the area encompassed QY is_s.u_es of policy initiation-:-:-specifically, how the
media serve as a surrogateJ~_m_ggil1g__P.o]ifY. iS.!!f.
,_Much the same set of arguments might be made about program evaluation.
Although new approaches to program evaluation are constantly being proposed
and tested (see, e.g., Fischer, 1995, for evaluation from a postpositivist perspective), these do not destroy the utility of the policy process framework or undermine the necessary role of program evaluation.
All of these areas have historically been under-attended by policy analysts (see
Schon and Rein, 1994; also deLeon, 1994a), and this neglect has adversely affected the insights offered by the consensual policy framework. But Saba tier and

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Peter deLeon

Jenkins-Smith do not necessarily undercut the l~gitimacy or viability of the policy process approach.

ON BALANCE
Regardless of the contributions of Saba tier and Jenkins-Smith, one still needs to
ask if their charges regarding the, at best, marginal improvements for further research results in the policy process are commensurate with reduced research efforts in that vein. I propose a rather more positive resp'onse than Sabatier and
Jenkins-Smith's gloomy prognostication of reduced research efforts, that the policy process framework will continue to serve as a valuable heuristic in both policy
research and programmatic operations. First, as I have suggested, and despite
Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith's repeated protestations, t11e'fe!SSOme doubt as to
w~ether ther a,nd the.~d~~~~L~.~~ion framework (ACE) have brokm..out of
the paradigm created by the policy process orientation! And to be fair, it is not
clear that we should want them to, for it is apparent that a great deal of pivotal research is still to be done within that framework as long as one can admit that the
policy process is not a model in the formal sense of the word.
Brewer and deLeon (and other "policy processers," I suspect) prefer to reflect
upon the policy process/stages heuristic as a basis for viewing and categorizing
actors and actions in ways that help unravel and elucidate given policies, both in
retrospect (always, of course, the clearer view) and-more cautiously-in the future. As most observers fully know, these benefits are no small accomplishments,
even if they do not create a clear view over the next policy mountain, let alone
anticipate it. To argue over whether policy process represents a "model," a
"metaphor," or a "heuristic" serves little purpose as long as we recognize its main
strengths (i.e., that it is a means for categorizing policy actions as they vary from
stage to stage) and attendant weaknesses (e.g., that it has a lack of predictive capabilities) and act accordingly. For instance, Steven Waldman's (1995) masterly
account of the America Corps legislation is perfectly clear in using the concepts
developed within policy formulation, even though Waldman made no conscious
appeal to the policy stages framework.
One can make the case that many of the more radical iterations of policy research-! mean the postpositivist themes, including research in hermeneutics
and critical theory-could also be easily incorporated into the policy process
paradigm (see Hawkesworth, 1988, and deLeon, 1997). Marie Danziger (1995)
made the case (drawing from Foucault and others) that the "objective" basis of
policy analysis is little more than a subjective judgment and cannot be used as if
it were scientific "fact." Critical theory, as an example, makes the case that "systematically distorted communications" threaten the foundations of good policy
and social legitimacy, that is, according to Jiirgen Habermas, "communicative rationality" (see, e.g., Forester, 1985, 1993 ). It would be an easy transition from crit-

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The Stages Approach to the Policy Process

27

ical theory to describe a movement encompassing greater subjectivity or going


toward greater communicative rationality in terms of improved problem definition. Lasswell originally called this stage the "intelligence" function, and later
scholars (e.g., Brewer and deLeon, 1983) referred to it as the initiation stage.
Other postpositivists, such as Fischer and Forester (1993), could be similarly located. A model as carefully structured as Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith's ACF would
be unable to encompass these newer policy approaches, such as communicative
rationality and postpositivism.
Likewise, new contributions to policy research, such as ethnography or mediated negotiation, can also be fitted into the policy process model without undermining-in fact, enhancing-its validity for understanding, working on, or,
more to the point, improving the quality of information provided to government. This last task, of course, was one of Lasswell's original and enduring
charges. In the above examples, if we attribute any credibility to the cited research
approaches (and I propose few would entirely disown them), policy scholars such
as Saba tier could be seen as possibly inhibiting the advancement of the policy sciences by clinging tenaciously to the problematic tenets of positivist thought and
procedures. Conversely, these alternative concepts can readily be captured by the
policy process framework.
The more pressing question is not "whither the policy process" but whether
the policy process framework (or heuristic) can be useful in moving the poJjcy
sciences toward a set of policy-oriented theories. The quest for a policy theory
was, after all, the clear intention of Saba tier and Jenkins-Smith and of Elinor Ostrom, not the denigration of the "straw man" policy process heuristic. To this particular question, the answer must be much more agnostic. Lasswell's (1971) proposed "maximization theorem" is a candidate (see Brunner, 1991, pp. 77-78); it
holds that living forms are predisposed to complete acts in ways that are perceived to
leave the actor better off than if he had completed them differently. The postulate
draws attention to the actor's own perception of the alternative act completions
open to him in a given situation.
However, the maximization postulate is less consonant with an empirical theory
than it sounds. In the first place, it seems entirely too dependent on traditional
economic reasoning; there are simply too many instances in which imperium
economia-however convenient and enticing-does not prevail, as Amitai Etzioni, Robert Bellah, and the communitarians are quick to point out. Second, the
maximization postulate is too prone to understandable ambiguity, depending, as
it does, on "the actor's own perception." Nor does Yehezkel Dror's ( 1971 ) advocacy of metatheory seem particularly persuasive, even after n-venty- five years.
Unfortunately, the standard disciplinary formulations are even more suspect
and querulous in terms of theory building. For example, let us take the case of benefit -cost analysis: U.S. president Bill Clinton accepted an entirely new budget-

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Peter deLeon

busting component in 1996 when he ordered expanded disability benefits for U.S.
Vietnam veterans who might have contracted prostrate cancer, basing his decision
on scientifically inconclusive evidence linking prostrate cancer to the herbicide
Agent Orange. Considering that close to 3 million men fought in Vietnam and that
10 percent of all men (regardless of their Vietnam experience) contract prostrate
cancer, the relevant government benefits could be substantial (Purdum, 1996).
More to our point, President Clinton's actions hardly seem to validate a strictly
economic approach. Or institutional analysis: In a similarly iconoclastic manner,
Paul Sabatier and his colleagues (1995) indicated that the standard institutional
pressures seemed to be less than compelling in examinatibns of the operations of
the U.S. Forest Service. Or even "objective" economic data: The Economist
("Damned Lies," 1996, p. 18) opined that "finding the right number is much
harder than you might think. ... Many of these activities cannot be seen and cannot be numbered." These and numerous other instances emphasize the complexity
of policy actions that render analysis from a limited perspective less than useful
(Bobrow and Dryzek, 1987) and, concomitantly, enhance the value of the policy
process model.
In these cases, one can justifiably wonder if the policy sciences would be better
served if they adopted more of a systems analysis perspective (read: policy process
"model") as opposed to a general systems perspective, that is, if they accepted tentatively the policy stages/process for its constrained worth and leave it behind when
bigger and better things materialize. The systems model is certainly more holistic
in its approach, searching for, perhaps stumbling toward, the "big picture," replete
with the requisite daunting big-picture complexities and linkages. In physics, a
general systems perspective would be known as a grand unifying theory, in other
words, most physicists' Holy Grail. However, systems analysis (from the Greek, "to
loosen or break apart") attempts to answer the question of the disaggregated parts
in lieu of the much more forbidding whole. In its defense, we can admit that linkages can remain elusive (or that the reconfigured whole is different from the earlier,
unreconstructed body), but at least we have some idea as to what makes up (or, just
as important, what does not make up) the parts. Although this information may
appear as little more than isolated and unrelated, we know from Thomas Kuhn
(1962) that these parts are the founding elements of"scientific revolutions." Given
the idiosyncratic episodes addressed by most policy research, we might well be better served to devote ourselves to the quest for a series of mid-range theories, as
Robert Merton ( 1968) set out to do some years ago, or even toward a better, generalized understanding, rather than a policy grand unifying theory.
In the case of the policy process, we still may be unable to grasp how the entire
system works in verifiable (or, if one prefers Karl Popper's terminology, falsifiable) theory, but with the assistance of, for example, Eugene~ (1977), we
have a much better idea of ho~age~~La_tesLa,l1~<:1.JWlic:y_..alte.mat-il'-es
p_resented. And as Charles Lindblom (1990; Lindblom and Cohen, 1971) has repeatedly advised us over the years, although Holy Grails are all well and good and
fully warrant our lusting after them, still "usable knowledge," "lay probing," and

The Stages Approach to the Policy Process

29

"muddling through" do provide a valuable illumination of their own. Or in the


famous phrase of John Maynard Keynes, "It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong;' especially when we know that the precisely _wrong will slifely find
itself manifested with great certitude into public policies.

CONCLUSION
In short, before we discard a useful friend-in this instance, the policy process or
policy stages framework-we need to make sure, first, that it really does warrant
a place in the dustbin of abandoned paradigms; second, that we have a better,
more robust framework on which to rely; and third, that even in our quest for the
theoretical, we have little use for the operational. None of these criteria (or the alternative models) argues decisively or even very strongly for abandoning the policy stages framework.
The policy process paradigm has never given us everything we might have
wanted from it, so we need to ask two additional questions: In lieu of alternative
policy formulations, have we loaded an impossibly heroic stature upon the policy
stages framework? And more centrally, exactly what are we asking it to provide? A
theory of political change or occurrences? Perhaps, but what about other-and
now neglected-stages of public policy? And, failing that, as we certainly must,
then certainly operational insights or, as Lasswell observed, "better intelligence
leading to better government" is an acceptable alternative to empty theorizing. In
Lasswell's own words (quoted in Brunner, 1991, p. 81):
It is the growth of insight, not simply of the capacity of the observer to predict the future operation of an automatic compulsion, or of a non-personal factor, that represents the major contribution of the scientific study of interpersonal relations to policy.
It was, of course, F. Scott Fitzgerald-the consummate policy analyst for the
Roaring Twenties-writing about the fatally deluded Jay Gatsby, who offered
what could be an appropriate paean to the troubled and maligned policy stages
framework, heuristic, or model:
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter-tomorrow we will mn faster, stretch
out our arms farther. .. . And one fine morning-

NOTES
1. In the early 1980s, when Garry Brewer and Peter de Leon were finalizing their Foundations of Policy Analysis ( 1983 ), they asked Lasswell if he might prepare a foreword. He

chose not to, explaining that the book and its format were fine just as they were.

30

2. Perhaps of equal importance, these stages assisted in the design of a number of academic curricula, engendering a flurry of policy design, estimation, and evaluation courses.
3. Obviously this is meant to be a representative rather than an exhaustive listing;
apologies to those missing are hereby given.
4. On 25 November 1986, President Ronald Reagan explained to the American public
that although "our policy goals [in dealing with the revolutionary government of Iran)
were to be well founded ... information brought to my attention yesterday convinced me
that, in one aspect, the implementation of the policy was seriously flawed " (emphasis
added), thus announcing the denouement of the Iran-Contra scandal.
5. A more complete review of Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith's c:;ssay is deLeon ( 1994 ); also
see Lawlor (1995 ). Sabatier (1991) drew on more than just' the policy process/stages
framework, as he also included Elinor Ostrom (1990) and Richard Hofferbert (1974,
1990) in his criticisms.
6. The source here is numerous conversations with Professor Sabatier on this subject.
One can fairly cite Professor Saba tier's earlier mastery of the implementation literature as
evidence that his disavowal of the policy process is recent at the very best.

i'l
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!.:......___

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I .~.

If

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[I

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